Before and After

Chapter 8 "Speaking to the Dead"

"Aiden...?" I whispered quietly to my little brother. "Yeah..?" I heard him murmur. "Did you just hear what I just heard?" "I-I think so."

Both Aiden and I stood completely still in silence staring at the lifeless body that was laid on the floor a couple of feet away from us. Suddenly, I felt a cool breeze pass me by and I immediately looked down toward Aiden to see if he was still next to me. "Aiden did you feel that?" I tried to say with out actually opening my mouth. "Feel what?" Fuck. "You didn't feel that cool breeze just a few minutes ago?" "No." OH MY GOSH!...Ciara calm down. I could feel my heart rate start to speed up and I knew that if I didn't calm myself down quickly i'd have a panic attack-and that's the last thing I need to happen; not here-not now. "Breath Ciara. Breath." I kept repeating to myself. Slowly, I felt my heart rate slow down and I began to come back to reality. "Good job Ciara..."

As soon as I was able to come back to my senses, I heard the same voice that Aiden and I both heard when we first entered the house. "Ciara! Aiden! It's me Jaimee! Can't you guys see me!?" "Ok Aiden, you did hear that right??" I timidly asked while stooping down to his height and grabbing him by his shoulders. "Yeah, I heard it. Do you think it's really her?" Before I was able to reply to Aiden's question, a voice- the same voice- interrupted me saying "YES AIDEN! IT'S ME! IT'S ME!"

Even though I was entirely frighten, I decided it was time to be the older sibling and actually get down to business. After all, we did come here to find Jaimee and if talking to, God knows what, was how I was going to get answers-then so be it.

I stood up and slowly walked away from Aiden telling him not to move. "Stay put. You understand me?" I sternly said to him. He shook his head in a 'yes' motion symbolizing that he understood and did exactly as he was told.

My whole body was shaking as a began to walk toward the lifeless body. When I noticed I was about a foot away from it I stopped, knelt down, and spoke as loud as I could without letting Aiden hear me. "Jaimee? Please tell me you're ok." Within about 5 seconds I heard a voice-Jaimee's voice. "Yes...well no...well. To be honest Cece, I don't know." her voice replied back to me. "This can't be real..." As much as i wanted to get the hell out of this creepy house, I knew we were too close to finding Jaimee to back out now. I took a deep breath and continued to talk to 'Jaimee'.

"How don't you know? Where are you?" I questioned. "I'm by this Oak Tree. You know, the one I showed you in your dream? Ciara...those dreams of me and you were real. You didn't have them because you thought you were crazy...you had them because that was the only way I could communicate with you-you and Aiden." "My dreams were real..??" "Wait! Jaimee!" I yelled while beginning to panic. "If my dreams were real then...."

I let me voice trail off into silence. Then, right before I opened my mouth to finish my sentence, I felt two people touch me-one more faint than the other. I turned around to see Aiden's hand on my shoulder and tears in his eyes. I quickly fell to the floor and embraced him into a hug then whispered in his ear that everything's going to be ok.

"Ciara? Aiden?" Jaimee's voice soothly spoke. Both Aiden and I looked up toward the direction of her voice and answered 'yes?' "I'm dead. Aren't I?" I hushed Aiden telling him not to speak. "Yo-you didn't know?" I tried to ask while choking back tears. It was silent for a long time before Jaimee spoke again. And when she did, you could tell-even if she was now a spirit-that she was hurt. "No...I didn't. I didn't know what this place that I'm in was...until now...I'm guessing.... it's heaven?"

I tried so hard to fight back my tears but my willpower didn't work. Tears started rolling down my face like a roaring waterfall. Trying to stop my constant crying I replied back to Jaimee saying "Yeah, I guess it is Jaimee. But you're ok now...you're in a better place. Mom, dad, Aiden, and I will be ok, now that we know where you are... But I do have one question." "What's that?" Jaimee answered with the same hurt tone she had before. "What happened? Like, how did you die?" Once again, there was a long pause but Jaimee soon answered telling me the whole story; from the moment she was kidnapped to the time she died.

After Jaimee was finished with her story, Aiden and I said our final goodbyes to her, gathered our belongings, and headed back home. It's time for mom and dad to know the truth and for my baby sister to be laid to rest; peacefully.